Lauderdale learns to mind diplomatic manners

Showing the ambassador of Mexico the way to the bathroom takes a little class.

"You should never point and say, `Down that way,' " said Dorothea Johnson, founder and director of The Protocol School of Washington. "You lead the person there."

Before any diplomat utters words about peace and cooperation when they meet here in June for the Organization of American States General Assembly, Fort Lauderdale needs a few lessons on manners.

There's a proper way to enter a room full of diplomats. Wait to be greeted. Engage in light conversation. Don't go straight to the bar.

When shaking hands with foreign ministers and presidents, make it a firm, full handshake. But don't go overboard.

And if a business card is presented, read it right away. Never, under any circumstance, write on it.

"It's apparently very insulting," said Francine Mason of the Fort Lauderdale Visitors and Convention Bureau, where staffers were given a crash course this week on etiquette and protocol.

It's part of an effort to prepare for the hundreds of international dignitaries who will descend on Fort Lauderdale from June 5-7. The parade of diplomats will include Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, possibly President Bush, and representatives from 34 nations in the Western Hemisphere.

Along with a few hotel executives, convention-center employees were taught charm and grace in a class that took most of the day. Together, they practiced the intricacies of diplomatic etiquette.

Skills learned this week, Mason said, will last long after the hemispheric conference leaves town. In essence, having manners pays.

"It sort of gives you a competitive edge," she said.

There's the proper way to introduce foreign ministers to each other, determined by rank in the diplomatic corps.

"Secretary General, I'd like to introduce to you," Mason emphasized.

It would be insulting, Mason warns, if one would tell the president of the United States, for example, "I'd like to introduce you to . . . "

When greeting a diplomat, etiquette calls for you "to square your shoulders to them and keep both feet shoe distance apart. You would wait for the dignitary to offer their hand," Johnson said.

To avoid creating an international incident at the dinner table, follow these simple rules:

"You don't eat until the host eats," Mason said. "The only time you place your napkin on the table is at the end of the meal. If you go get a phone call, you put the napkin on the chair."

But these rules don't worry Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jim Naugle, who is known to be blunt at times. He will be expected to attend some of the social functions but said he doesn't need special lessons.

"Mayors are just supposed to know those things," he said. "A lot of times you just have to wing it; you're the mayor, there's no one else to ask."